Heat exchange apparatus



March 933. E. J'. PARENT 1,900,363 I HEAT EXQHANGE APPARATUS I Filed May 15,. 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 n P3 Fa amnion fizz/7e J Parent March 7, 1933. E. J. PARENT HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS Filed May 15, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zlwwntoz 5777/78 J Parent maws wm w March 7, 1933. E. J. PARENT HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 15, 1951 Patented Mar. 7, 1933 1 UNITED sTArEs PATENT O'QFFICE EMILE J. PARENT, HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHITLOCK COIL Application filed May 15,

This inventionhas to do broadly with ST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- nnncr EXCHANGE APPARATUS 1931'. serial No. 537,645.

apparatus for deriving heat from waste water, and ismoreparticularly concerned with that type of apparatus which is ordinarily availed of to partially heat, or preheat, fresh water by causing an interchange of heat from warm waste-Water to the cooler fresh water. 1 I

An apparatus of this sort is clearly illustrated, described and claimed in the'patent to Beekley and Martens, No. 1,7 03,655 issued under date of February 26, 1929. Thisxinvention aims at the provision of certain improvements in the apparatus of the patent referred to. Moreparticularly, the invention has in view the provisio'n of preheating apparatus characteristic of that 'shown in said patent, but which departs from the illustrated embodimentof the patout by availing of a single pit or trench to provide the plurality of waste water compartments, rather than the several individ: ual pits or trenches which are employed in;

facilitated. "The -cost of installation is materially reduced, a factor which must be considered, as usually the installation job is done by men other than the employees who manufacture the heater at th'e'plant of production. I

'Preheaters are-frequently used in plants where, while theaverage temperature of the waste water is such that it may be efficiently used toheat the incoming Water,'there are discharges which are colder than the average and which discharges, if mixed with the warmer discharges, would interfere with the efficiency of the preheater. An aim of the present invention is to provide an improved arrangement for effectively taking care of these colder or colddischarges, and to this end the arrangement is such as to by-pass, I

conjunction with the apparatus of the patent. t

Particular features and advantages of the invention are associated with the arrangement of the partition structure in the single pit to provide a plurality of waste Water chambers so that theapparatus may operate inthe multi-stage fashion of the said patent. Other more detailed features are connected with the interrelation between the-partition structure and the preheater apparatus itself;

-By proceeding in accordance with the present invention, the stages or units of the heat exchanger or preheater may be manufactured as a unitary structure'that is-in a single section which may be readily and quickly installed in the single pit ortrench and, by preference, the plate which constitutes the'longitudinal partition for dividing the trench into two chambers may be incorporated in the unitary heater. With this arrangement, the assembly of the parts go{ ing to make up the heater may bedo-ne', for the most part, at the manufacturing plant where the facilities for doing thisare best,

and'thus the operation of installing a preso to speak, the cold discharges so that they do not comev intocontact with the heat transfer surfaces, to any appreciable extent; Other objects will be in part obvious and in' part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.-' 3

The invention accordinglycons'ists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction herein after set forth and the scope of the applicationofwhich 'will'be indicated in the appended claims.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following descriptionand accompan-yingi drawings, wherein:

Fig.1 is a plan view'of a preheating apparatus embodying the improvements of this invention; i

Fig; 2 is a transverse vertical section through the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, and is taken about on the plane represented by the line -2-2 of-Fig. 1; t

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section taken about on the plane represented by the line 33 of Fig. 1; j i

Fig. 4 is; a perspectiveview of portions ofthe pai'titions,the header of the heating units being illustrated, in part, by broken lines; and

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical vsection taken about on the plane represented by the line 55 of Fig. 1.

While the embodiment of the invention herein illustrated and described is shown as comprising a multistage preheater of two stages, it is to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited in this respect. Obviously, a greater number of stages could be assembled in a unitary structure in a single pit or trench in much the same manner as is the two-stage preheater herein described and still be well within the purview of this invention. I

Referring now to the drawings, it is noted that certain parts of the apparatus, together with their operation, are only briefly described herein as the said Beekley et al. patent is referred to for a more detailed and complete description of these parts, together with their mode of functioning. The instant construction includes a pit or trench which is preferably defined by a concrete structure, designated by the numeral 10, which ordinarily would be installed in the ground fioor of at laundry or textile mill. This pit, as hereinafter described more in detail, is longitudinally divided into two chambers arranged .in series and through which the waste water successively flows, as described in said Beekley et al. patent, except as hereinafter noted. The chamber of the first'stage is designated by the letter A, and the chamber of the second stage by the letter A. At the inlet end of the chamber A is a well or compartment B, and at the outlet end of the second stage is a well or compartment B1. At the other end of the pit is a compartment or well B2 through which the first chamber A communicates with the second chamber A.

In accordance with the present invention,

I the heater has two stages or units respectively positioned in the chambers A and A in a manner similar to that disclosed in said Beekley et al. patent, but in the present instance these two heating units are preferably combined into a single section of unitary construction. More particularly, this heater has a head unit which is divided into two header compartments, each of which compartments is constructed similarly to the headers shown in said Beekley et al. patent. That is to say, they are provided with horizontal transverse partitions similar to the partitions 25 of said Beekley et al. patent, and one of which partitions is shown in broken lines in Fig. 4 in the accompanying drawings. In vthe present instance, the header unit comprises a single tube sheet 14 and a he'ad 15, the head having a vertical central partition 16 so as to provide the two said header chambers. The partition 16 is shown more or less diagrammatically by dotted lines in Fig. 4. Each of the heating units have groups of tubes arranged one above the other and so connected to the header compartments that the fresh water in each stage will flow in a series of passes from a lower to an upper level, as described in said Beekley et al. patent. In the accompanying drawings, the tubes of the heating unit, located in the chamber A, are designated by the letter C, and those in the second chamber A by the letter C. These gangs or groups of tubes are supported by straps 17 which extend downwardly from brackets 18 which in turn are carried by beams 19 which may have their ends properly supported in the concrete structure 10. The header compartments are connected in series by a pipe line 20 which extends from the top portion of the header compartment of the second stage, over the partition structure, and down to the bottom of the header compartment of the first stage. A fresh Water inlet is connected to the bottom of the compartment of the second stage, and is designated by the reference character 21. A heated fresh water outlet, designated by the numeral 22, is connected to the upper portion of the header compartment of the first stage.

Referring now more particularly to the novel partition construction provided in accordance with this invention, a central partition 3O divides the pit into the two chambers A and A. This partition is in the form of a fiat sheet preferably constructed from similar wing 33 above the header. The for-,

ward edge of the partition between the wings abuts against the tube sheet, as shown in Fig. 3, and is preferably permanently secured to that tube sheet, as by a welding operation, as at 34; thus the central partition forms a part of the unitary structure which comprises the heater.

Extending forwardly from the header and aligned with the central partition 30 is a front partition member or plate 35, the forward edge of which slidably fits in a groove 36 in the front wall of the concrete structure 10. The rear edge of the partition 35 fits in a groove 37 in the front face of the head 15. The front partition is coextensive in height with the central partition 30, and has its lower end fitted in a continuation of the groove 31 in the bottom of the pit.

Mounted on each side of the front par tition member 35 at a point spaced from the its I provided by the angle bars 38.

front wal l of the pit is a pair of L-shaped angle bars 38 which define grooves, one on eachside of the front partition member The concrete wall structure is provided with grooves 39 and 40 aligned with the grooves A front transverse partition member 41 has its side edges fitted in the groove 39 and the opposed groove on the front partition 35, and a second front transverse partition member42 is similarly positioned at'the outlet end of the chamber A of the second stage. The front transverse partition 41 constitutes an overflow dam over which the incoming hot waste water fiows from the compartment B to the forward end of the chamber A of the first stage. The other front transverse partition member 42 is higher than the overflow dam 41 and its lower edge is spaced from the bottom of the pit so as to provide an outlet passage 43. Thus this partition 42. constitutes an underflow dam between the chanr her A of the second stage and the outlet compartment Bl.

Referring now more particularly to the partition structure at the opposite end of the apparatus, it is noted that the central partition member 30 carries on each side a pair of angle irons 44 which define grooves, and opposite which grooves are grooves 45 and 46 formed in the side walls of the pit. A rear cross partition member 47 is supported in the grooves at the rear end of the chamber A, and its bottom edge is spaced an appreciable distance above the bottom of the pit. Thus the partition 47 constitutes an underflow dam beneath. which communication is established between the chamber A and the communicating compartment B2. A second rear cross partition 48 has its edges fitted in the groove 46, and in the opposed groove formed between angle irons 44. This partition member 48 extends clear to the floor of the pit. With this arrangement, the partition 48 constitutes an overflow dam over which waste water flows from the compartment B-2 to the chamber A of the second stage. Itis observed that the central partition 30 is preferably united to, so as to form a part of,-the heater, while the other partitions are all removable. All of these partitions are preferably made of metal plates.

Vfaste water is admitted to the compartment B by means of a pipe 50. The waste water flows .out of the'compartment B-2 through an overflow pipe 51 which leads to a sewer, or other point of disposal. The top of the overflow pipe 51 is at such a level as to maintain the waste water at the desired height within the apparatus.

In said Beekley et al. patent, the overflow dam 12, located at the forward end of the chamber A ofthe first stage, extends to the bottom of the pit so that all of the incoming waste water, whether it be hot or cold, flows over that dam, and then longitudinally of, and downwardly across, the

tubes of the heating'unit in the first chamh these cold discharges are by-passed so that they do not, to any appreciable extent, affect the operation of the first stage of the preheater. To this end, the partition 41, between the inlet compartment B and the forward end of the chamber A terminates short of the bottom of the pitso as to leave a cold water inlet 55, which is at a level below the bottom of the heating unit C.

The operation of the apparatus may be briefly outlined as follows: the waste water flows through the pipe into the compartment B and, if such water is hot, it flows over the overflow dam or partition 41, then generally longitudinally of, and downwardly across, the pipes C in the chamber A, and through the outlet under the underfiow dam 47 'into the compartment B-Q. It then flows over the overflow dam 48 and through the second chamber A1 in the samemanner that it passed through the chamber of the first stage. The waste water, the heat of which has now been substantially spent or extracted by the cold water passing through the tubes of the heater, passes under the underfiow dam 42 into the compartment B1 and through the waste or outlet pipe 51. The flow of the fresh water is substantially opposite to the direction'of that of tie waste water. The fresh water to be heated r is admitted to the left-hand end of the header (referring to Fig. 2) through the pipe 21, and passes through the tubes C-l lOCZLtB-Ll in the chamber ofthe second stage in a With that arangement, the cold disseries of passes, and then through the comh municating pipe 20 to the other half of the header and through the pipes C of'the unit located inthe first stage. The heated water then passes through the outlet pipe 22 to the point of distribution or use. It will be observed that, due to the bottom inlet 55 provided belowthe first partition 41, the waste water may have a selective flow, so to speak, through thechamber A of the first stage. If the incoming water is hot, it will not sink in the inlet chamber B but, on. the other hand, will flow over the top of the partition 41 and take the course just described. If the incoming waste waterv is cold, it will sink'to the bottom of the chamber of the inlet compartment B, flow through the botf iis iiio.

unit C. In actual practice, this by-passed water would probably not be so cold as to affect the ofliciency of the second stage, it

being observed that, in any event, the temperature of the waste water in the second of the advantages of the multistage type of 5 preheater, such as illustrated and descrlbed in the said Beekley et al. patent. Moreover, the cost of installing preheating apparatus of this type is materlally reduced when the single pit arrangement is availed of, together with the partition structure provided hereby. Furthermore, the construction of the preheating apparatus itself, together with its assembly, is slmpl lfied, 111 that it all may be assembled as a unit rather than in a plurality of units, as. has heretofore been the case. It will further be observed that, due to the selective flow of the arrangement, the efiiciency ot the apparatus is materially increased.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made Without departing from .the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is 1ntendedto cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

What is claimed is:

1. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit, preheating apparatus pos1- tioned in the pit and comprising a unitary structure having a pair of stages positioned side by side and connected in series, each stage being composed of a group of tubes, said preheater apparatus being provlded with a header having compartments with which the group of tubes respectively communicate, and partition means dividing said pit into a pair of waste water chambers and including a vertical metal partition positioned between said groups of tubes and extending from the header to a point short of an end wall of the pit.

2. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit and having in its floor a longitudinally extending narrow groove, a preheater apparatus positioned in said pit and comprising a unitary structure having a plurality of stages, partition means dividing said pit into a plurality of waste water chambers and including a longitudinally extending metal partition member positioned between the stages of said preheater and having its lower edge engaged in said groove, said chambers being connected in series and each having an inlet atone end and adjacent the top, and an outlet at the other end adjacent the bottom.

3.1m a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a Waste water pit, preheating apparatus positioned in said pit having a pair of stages and comprising a header having two header compartments positioned side by side, and each stage having a plurality of tubes communicating with the respective header compartments, and partition means dividing said chamber into a pair of waste water chambers and including a longitudinally extending vertical partition member located between the tubes of the stages and engaging at one end said header.

4. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit, preehating apparatus positioned in said pit having a pair of stages connected in series and comprising a unitary structure provided with a header having compartments positioned side by side, each stage having a group of tubes communicating with the respective header compartments, and partition means dividing the pit into a pair of waste water chambers and including a longitudinally extending vertical partition member located between the tubes of said stages and projecting in one direction from said header, and a partition member aligned with said first mentioned partition member and positioned between said header and an end wall of said pit.

5. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste Water pit, preheating apparatus positioned in said pit having a pair of stages connected in series and comprising a unitary structure provided with a header having compartments positioned side by side, each stage having a group of tubes communicating with the respective header compartments, partition means dividing'the pit into a pair of waste water chambers and including a longitudinally extending vertical partition member located between the tubes of said stages and projecting in one direction from said header, a partition member aligned with said first mentioned partition member and positioned between said header and an end wall or" said pit, and transversely extending dam elements positioned between partition members and the side Walls of said pit and forming at one end of each chamber an inlet and at the other end of each chamber an outlet.

6. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit, preheating apparatus positioned insaid pit having a pair of stages and comprising a unitary structure provided with a header having a pair oi compartments positioned side by side, each stagehaving a'plurality of tubes communicating with the respective compartments, a centrally disposed longitudinally extending partition member positioned between the tubes of said stages and at one end straddling said header, a front partition member located between said header and an end wall of said pit, opposed grooves on said header and pit structure for slidably receiving said front partition member, the side walls of said pit structure and said first and second mentioned partition members having opposed vertical grooves, and dams removably positioned in said grooves, the floor of said pit structure having a longitudinally extending groove in which the lower edges of said partition members are engaged.

7. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit, a unitary structure positioned in said pit comprising a preheating apparatus having a plurality of stages positioned side by side and each stage having a plurality of tubes, partition means for dividing the pit into a plurality ofivaste water chambers and including a longitudinally extending partition member positioned between the stages of said preheater and permanently secured to said preheating apparatus, said chambers being connected in series and each having an inlet at one end and adjacent the top, and an outlet at the other end adjacent the bottom.

8. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, structure defining a waste water pit, preheating apparatus positioned in the pit and comprising a unitary structure having a pair of stages positioned side by side and connected in series, each sta e being composed of a group of tubes, said preheater apparatus being provided with a header having compartments with which the groups of tubes respectively communicate, and partition means dividing said pit into a pair of waste water chambers and including a vertical metal partition positioned between said groups of tubes and extending from the header to a point short ot' an end wall of the pit, said partition being united to said header..

9. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, a heating unit having a series of passes one above the other and through which the medium to be heated consecutively flows in a generally upward direction, a chamber in which said unit is positioned, a compartment at the forward end of said chamber and adapted to receive the waste water, a partition between said compartment and chamber and over which a se ies of passes one above the other and through which the liquid to be treated flows from a lower to an upper level, said unit having an inlet leading to the bottom thereof and an outlet leading from the top thereof, a chamber in which said unit is positioned having an inlet adjacent one end and the upper level of said unit and an outlet adjacent the other end and the lower level of said unit, said chamber also having. an

' inlet below said first mentioned inlet and adjacent the lower level of said unit, and means at the outlet end of said chamber for 'maintaining the level 01' liquid therein above said unit. 7

11.7In a reservoir arrangement for use in connection with heat exchange apparatus, a main chamber, a compartment at one end of the chamber adapted to receive waste water, anda partition between said compartment and chamber and over which the waste water is adapted to flow from the compartment into said chamber, there being an opening at the bottom of said partition through which colder waste water is adapted to flow from said compartment into said chamber, said chamber having an outlet at its other end and adjacent its bottom.

12. In a reservoir arrangement for use in connection withheat exchange apparatus, an inlet compartment, an outlet compartment and a main chamber therebetween; a waste water inlet leading to said inlet compartment, an overflow outlet leading from the outlet compartment, communicating means between the upper portions of the inlet compartment and chamber, communicating means between the bottom of said inlet compartment and chamber, and communicating means between the bottom of said chamber and outlet compartment.

chamber adjacent both the top and the bottom thereof, means for conducting liquidto said inlet compartment, and a heat exchange unit operatively associated with said main chamber.

14. In a heat exchange apparatus of the character described, a first chamber and a second chamber, a waste water inlet compartment at the forward end oi said first chamher, an overflow dam between said compartment and first chamber, there being an opening beneath said overflow dam, an underflow dam at the other end of said first chamher, an overflow dam at the forward end of said second chamber and an underflow dam at the outlet end of said second chamber, means for maintaining the level of water in said chambers, and a pair of heating units one entirely in each chamber, said heating units being connected in series.

15. In a reservoir arrangement, a tank having an inlet compartment, means for introducing a liquid into the upper part thereoi, an outlet compartment having a discharge opening, an intermediate compartment, said discharge opening being arranged to maintain a substantially constant liquid level in the three compartments, communicating means between the lower parts of the three compartments, and other communicating means between the receiving compartment and the intermediate compartment near the upper level of the liquid therein.

' EMILE J. PARENT. 

